When Enter the Dragon came out in 1973, it cemented Bruce Lee’s status as a superstar, of course, but it also introduced audiences to another charismatic young martial arts performer – Jim Kelly. With his awesome Afro, lean, athletic build, urban cool and a unique and dynamic fighting style, Kelly was a standout supporting presence and it’s no surprise that Dragon producer Fred Weintraub would try to capitalize on it. It was the tail end of the blaxploitation movement and the time was rife for a badass black karate star.

It’s just too bad that Hollywood couldn’t come up with a decent star vehicle for him.

Was it that Kelly only really worked well as part of an ensemble, a team of heroes? He, John Saxon and Lee meshed perfectly in Dragon. Without the burden of carrying the movie, Kelly was allowed to shine. Maybe he just wasn’t leading man star material. Personally, I think he could have been up there, if not with the likes of Jim Brown, then at least with Fred Williamson and Richard Roundtree…if only someone had bothered to construct the kind of movie that played to his strengths.